Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Happy Fathers Day

My big sister Carol posted this picture on Facebook on Fathers Day. I got breakfast in bed and spent the day with my three daughters and Suzy (the best wife and mother any man could ever dream of) and when I look back and think of my father I am so grateful he taught me what really matters in life.

We are what truly mattered to him. We are all that mattered to him. He wasn't perfect. He was my Dumb Dumb Daddy-O and I will always love him.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Heart and Soul

Football has been a major theme of this blog for obvious reasons, but my dad was good at anything he seemed to do. My wife recently paid me the compliment that I too was really good at just about anything I tried, arguably the best. I begged to differ, but in the end said, "thank you."

I have thought a lot about that compliment. I'm not that good at a lot of things. But I get what she meant and I credit it to good coaching.

Whenever I would play exceptionally well in a game. My dad would always say, "You played with some real 'heart & soul' today Biddy Buddy!" I remember one baseball game in particular where I went 5 for 5 with a double, two triples and two home runs. I scored 5 times and we won 10 to 9 in the seventh. We were the home team and on the last out I had a diving over the shoulder catch that seemed so unreal that I remember it as though I was watching someone else catch it. At the time I told my dad that I didn't remember doing it and that is was like I was watching someone else do it and then there I was with the ball in my glove getting mobbed by my teammates. He said it was because I was playing with some serious heart and soul.

He said he saw me running for it before the ball had even left the bat. He said I had had a premonition and since I was playing with real heart and soul you went where your spirit led. And that is how you played and that is how you should live your life.

He said, "Today you gave your soul a chance. When you do this the soul will take care of the body, but the body can never take care of the soul. Pay heed to all of you premonitions. Cultivate them. Regard them as an extra self, above and beyond your mortal self. Regard that other self as a watchful angel, a friend who's got your back."

He went on to explain, "The mind is to the body as the spirit to the soul. There are things that cannot be seen but that are surely felt, like fear. It may be simply that fear is born into the mind because there is fear in the world. Or again, it may be that the mysterious agency of the mind has thrown out invisible tentacles and drawn the truth out of the void."

He would always say, "Fear is usually a big waste of time, but it will always keep you safe." I think what he was saying, now that I've had thirty years to chew on it, was in life always follow your heart. Because when you follow your heart you bring together your mind and spirit, and your body and soul. Pretty deep and profound stuff for a Dumb Dumb Daddyo.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

SFO

"We're going to fly you to SFO for the next round of interviews. How does that sound to you?" Sounds great, where's SFO? Sometimes I am not a smart man. I told my wife I made to the next round and their flying me out to SOF next week! She said for people in the know it's SFO, but you call it San Francisco! "Cool!"

I think my genius lies in not worrying so much about being an idiot. I always felt bad for Forest Gump when he would be so concerned about not being a smart man. He never saw it. His brilliance in following his heart and just doing what he knew was right. My dad was so much like Forest Gump it's crazy, except for the whole low IQ thing. He was from Alabama. Played football on scholarship at a major university. They even had the same jersey number, good old #44. They both learned a lot about life and being a man serving in the military during a war. They both met Elvis and bunch of U.S. presidents. They both traveled the world, both being pioneering American citizens making historic trips to China. They both married the only woman they ever loved. And without a doubt lived uniquely huge lives.

So here I sit in the airport waiting to fly to SFO for yet another interview feeling like Forest on a bus stop bench. Thinking about my dad and realizing he never said anything about no box of chocolates. He did once tell to stop worrying so much about life and that it would take care of itself. He once said, "Life ain't meant to be figured out it's meant to be lived!"

Time to board.

Wish me luck.

ps
Not being a smart man is not so bad. My dad taught me I could still become educated (it just may take a little longer) but I see that there is a lot of brilliance in you biddy buddy and soon you will see it too.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Why

Why is the critical question. My dad used to tell me, "If you don't know why don't do it." Another one of his many sayings I never really got. Why do you have to have a reason to do everything? I guess now I get it, sort of. My wife just asked what am I blogging about and I told her I don't know. But I think I do know why I am doing it. Why do I post in DDD, because it brings me closer to my father.

I wish he were here now. Eight years he's been gone and still I wonder what he'd say or what he thinks I should do. Of course he is in my heart and in my head but that is not the same. He would never tell me what to do. Mostly he would say do what is right. Most of the times he would say if I haven't taught you the difference between right and wrong by now you'll never learn. Guess I'm still learning.

He once told me, "If you don't like what you are doing then do something else." I think it was when I was complaining about my first real sales job. He went on to explain that he didn't mean give up, but try and do it differently. He said, "The surest way to make something permanent is to give up. The surest way to succeed was to try again." He had a way of making the profound profoundly simple. I went back to that job and instead of going out in the field to make sales I went out to make friends. Things turned out pretty well.

I hope to start posting a little more regularly because I really could use his advice right now. The start up business I was hired to save just went out of business. So I find myself unemployed for the second time this year. If it was just me no problem, but I'm a dumb dumb daddyo now. My family is counting on me and lately I've been kind of down to say the least. He'd probably say something to make me smile and then say something like feeling sorry for yourself is not the solution. He was never shy about saying what had to be said.

So there it is...thanks DDD.